NBA 2014-15: Boston Celtics almost blow huge lead against Washington Wizards

BOSTON almost lost the unlosable, Detroit’s sad streak extended to 12 and the Hawks soared again. FULL NBA WRAP HERE.

Boston Celtics forward Jeff Green (8) tries to get past Memphis Grizzlies forward Jon Leuer (30) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, in Memphis, Tenn. The Grizzlies beat the Celtics 117-100. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

BOSTON almost lost the unlosable, Detroit’s sad streak extended to 12 and the Hawks soared again.

Get the lowdown on all today’s big NBA games right here.

CELTICS 101 — WIZARDS 93

The Boston Celtics nearly blew a 25-point third quarter lead before beating the Washington Wizards 101-93 Sunday in Paul Pierce’s return.

Jeff Green scored 25 points, reserve Marcus Thornton had 21 and Rajon Rondo had a triple-double as the Celtics hung on.

After blowing a big lead earlier in the week and winning in overtime against Detroit, this time Boston got the job done in the final minute against the Wizards.

“That’s twice this week that we’ve handled it better, once we didn’t,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said.

“I just thought we played gutsy at the end.”

Rondo’s triple-double included 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, guiding his team to its third straight win after a season-high five-game losing streak.

“We got to do what we did to get the lead,” Rondo said.

“I think we stopped running (when) they score every time down. It’s hard to run and we were able to get stops and push the ball up, that’s how we got the lead.”

Rasual Butler scored 14 of his 22 points in the final quarter for the Wizards, who failed to match the franchise’s best start since 1968-69.

Pierce, who played for the Celtics for 15 seasons and was a member of their 2008 championship team before being traded to Brooklyn prior to last season, scored 16 points.

Paul Millsap led the scoring in Atlanta’s two-point win against Denver.

HAWKS 96 — NUGGETS 84

The Atlanta Hawks have moved into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference after beating Denver by 12 points.

Paul Millsap scored 23 points and Kyle Korver added 15 to help the Hawks to their sixth straight victory with a 96-84 result.

But Korver said there was still a long way to go.

“Every NBA game is tough, but we’ve had a favourable schedule to this point,” he said.

“We’ve gotten to play some teams that aren’t as high up in the standings as we’re going to play later.”

Wilson Chandler finished with a season-high 29 points and Timofey Mozgov had 14 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Nuggets, who lost their third game in a row.

Atlanta took its biggest lead at 24 points when Millsap hit a three-pointer early in the third. Denver went on a 28-14 run to cut the lead to 10 late in the period, and a baseline jumper by Timofey Mozgov made it a nine-point lead in early in the fourth.

The Nuggets were five from 32 on three-point attempts before Chandler’s made it 87-78. He followed with a layup on Denver’s next possession, cutting the lead to seven, but Korver’s three and another layup put the Hawks back up by 12.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jon Leuer dunks the ball past Miami Heat forward Luol Deng.

GRIZZLIES 103 — HEAT 87

Jon Leuer scored a season-high 20 points and matched his career best with 12 rebounds to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 103-87 victory over the Miami Heat.

Mike Conley added 18 points for Memphis, connecting on all eight of his shots, while Zach Randolph and Courtney Lee finished with 17 points apiece. Tony Allen had 14 points, shooting six of eight, as Memphis made 59 per cent of their attempts and snapped a two-game losing streak.

The Grizzlies were eight of 13 from three-point range.

Dwyane Wade scored 25 points in Miami’s fourth straight loss. Josh McRoberts added 14 points, Luol Deng finished with 13, and Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers added 12 apiece.

Consecutive baskets by Wade to open the fourth quarter pulled the Heat within three points, but Memphis answered with eight straight points to take its lead back to double digits. The Grizzlies would eventually extend the margin to 17, and the Heat never got the deficit under double digits the rest of the way.

Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook collides with Detroit’s Cartier Martin.

THUNDER 96 — PISTONS 94

The Detroit Pistons hadn’t won a single game since beating the Oklahoma City Thunder last month on the road.

For much of today’s game, it looked like they were going to do it again.

That was until Josh Smith missed a potential winning three-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play, and the Thunder held on for a 96-94 victory.

“Obviously I was going for the win, or I wouldn’t have shot a three,” Smith said. “I had a great look, but it just didn’t go down.”

The Pistons have now lost 12 straight, two short of the franchise record. Detroit’s last win came on November 14, a game that both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook missed due to injury.

This time, Westbrook and Durant were healthy and combined for 50 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists.

Serge Ibaka added 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks for the Thunder, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Detroit with 19 points.

Westbrook had a chance to clinch the game with 10 seconds to play but missed a jumper, and Brandon Jennings and Smith then led a fast break.

Jennings drove the ball into the lane, but was facing Ibaka and chose to dish to Smith, who had stopped outside the arc. Despite only hitting 26.4 per cent of his three-pointers in his 98 games as a Piston, he let fly, only to see the ball bounce off the rim and out of bounds.

Chandler Parsons goes big against the Mavericks.

MAVERICKS 125 - BUCKS 102

The Dallas Mavericks built a big lead with a 12-0 run in the first quarter and didn’t trail again in their second victory in five days over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Chandler Parsons scored 28 points, including nine in the opening period, as the Mavericks rolled to a 125-102 victory.

Dirk Nowitzki, who was rested for the game at Milwaukee last week and scored a season-low 10 points on Saturday, bounced back with 21 and Monta Ellis added 19. Ellis has averaged 26.8 points in his last six games, including three of 30-plus.

All five Bucks starters scored in double figures, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 18 points.

Milwaukee pulled within six four times in the second quarter, but Dallas scored the last four points of the first half to build a 59-46 lead.

Dallas scored 10 of the first 13 points in the third quarter for a 69-49 lead on Ellis’ drive. The Bucks came back with a 16-2 run to move back within six points.

The Mavericks pushed the advantage to 81-69 on three-pointers by Parsons and Devin Harris, and outscored Milwaukee 17-4 over the last five-and-a-half minutes of the quarter to lead 90-71 after three.

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks have lost four of their first 16 games this year.

TRAIL BLAZERS 103 - KNICKS 99

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points as the Portland Trail Blazers overcame blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Knicks 103-99 for their fourth straight victory.

Carmelo Anthony had 23 points with LeBron James sitting courtside, but the Knicks lost their eighth straight and 12th in their last 13 games.

J.R. Smith scored 20 points off the bench and Amare Stoudemire added 16 for New York, whose 4-18 start is a franchise worst.

The Trail Blazers have won five straight games over New York.

Wesley Matthews had 17 points for the Trail Blazers, who led 89-79 with 8:04 left in the fourth before New York stormed back with a 16-5 run.

Aldridge’s free throws with 2:46 left gave Portland the lead for good.

New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis drives against Los Angeles Laker Wayne Ellington.

PELICANS 104 - LAKERS 87

Anthony Davis scored 23 points to overtake Kobe Bryant in the race for the NBA scoring title as he carried the New Orleans Pelicans to a 104-87 win against Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.

Jrue Holiday had 22 points and eight assists and Ryan Anderson had 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, helping the Pelicans end a four-game road losing streak that included a 27-point drubbing by the Warriors on Friday (AEDT) and a 20-point loss to the Clippers on Sunday.

Bryant had 14 points in 31 minutes for the Lakers who have now won just five out of 21 games this season.

He and Davis entered today’s game in first and second place in the league in scoring average at 25.8 points and 25.3, respectively.

With his team allowing an average of 111.2 points, first-year Lakers coach Byron Scott inserted power forward Ed Davis and point guard Ronnie Price into his starting unit while Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin came off the bench, but it was to no avail as the Pelicans won the first quarter by six, the second by four and the third by 10, before closing the margin by just three points in the final quarter.